Walt Disney World Resort guests aren’t happy about the state of one new theme park feature.
It’s no secret that the past few years have been rough on EPCOT. The second-oldest park at Walt Disney World – originally opened in 1982 as an acronym for the Experimental Prototype of Tomorrow – was first pegged for an intense makeover at the 2019 D23 Expo, with huge changes park-wide.
The initial announcement claimed that EPCOT would receive four distinct “neighborhoods.” Future World, previously one land, would be split into three areas: World Celebration (the first land, centered around Spaceship Earth), World Discovery, World Nature, and World Showcase. Meanwhile, two new attractions – Journey of Water – Inspired by Moana, and an unnamed Mary Poppins ride with a surrounding Cherry Tree Lane area – were also announced.
It was also announced that Pinar Toprak would compose a new musical anthem for the park and that a new nighttime show, “Harmonious,” would replace EPCOT Forever.
Fast forward five years, and not all of these announcements have gone according to plan. While Future World is, indeed, a thing of the past, and Journey of Water – Inspired by Moana opened in 2023, the Mary Poppins ride has been indefinitely delayed (if not canceled) while “Harmonious” was performed for less than two years and was mostly slammed for its use of ugly barges that sat on World Showcase Lagoon all-day-long.
The various “worlds” that replaced Future World have also been dramatically slimmed down – and widely criticized. The final area, World Celebration, only debuted its final section earlier this year and didn’t exactly set the theme park community alight, with its CommuniCore Hall mocked for looking cheap and comparable to a school cafeteria.
Wonder if @RobertIger knows EPCOT reimagining’s a HUGE disappointment: concrete planters, airport gift store & food court, blank convention center passageway, a “show” area with the vibe of a Ralph’s loading dock – and girls in leotards spinning on a globe. How did this happen?
https://twitter.com/TRVLtruth/status/1810468538915942788
Another section, World Celebration Gardens, initially received praise (for the most part) for its atmospheric nighttime floor lighting when it debuted in December. However, it seems like EPCOT fans truly can’t have nice things, as these lights have now mostly gone dark – and have been dark for a while.
As per @Blog_Mickey, the majority of lights on the floor do not work. The columns are also malfunctioning.
Basically none of the World Celebration Gardens floor lighting works anymore at EPCOT and a number of columns are having issues
https://twitter.com/Blog_Mickey/status/1810130729495404696
While these kinds of things do happen, it’s not these lights just broke. The lights in World Celebration Gardens have been unreliable – if not just outright dead – pretty much from the offset.
Imagineering is seriously injured.
You all get mad when I say it’s dead, so can I just say it’s got a broken leg, three broken fingers, a fractured collar bone, a concussion, it’s missing one eye brow, has an ear bitten off, and it’s hungry.
https://twitter.com/DisneyDan/status/1810678312663925145
As several users pointed out on X (formerly known as Twitter), it’s especially disappointing considering the legacy placed upon what was Walt Disney’s brainchild. EPCOT is by far Disney’s most unique theme park – and maybe, just maybe, it will one day get the TLC it deserves.
Are you disappointed by the changes at EPCOT lately?
